Dishwasher appliances generally include a tub that defines a wash chamber. Rack assemblies can be mounted within the wash chamber of the tub for receipt of articles for washing. Multiple spray assemblies can be positioned within the wash chamber for applying or directing wash fluid towards articles disposed within the rack assemblies in order to clean such articles. Dishwasher appliances are also typically equipped with a circulation pump for circulating fluid through the multiple spray assemblies.
Under certain conditions, dishwasher appliances are prone to flooding over a tub lip of the tub. For instance, dishwasher appliances may be prone to flooding over the tub lip during an out-of-level condition, an inlet water valve failure, and/or a drain pump failure. When one or more of such conditions occur, the water level can rise above the designed fill level and spill over the tub lip and onto the floor. This may be detrimental to consumers' homes.
Certain dishwasher appliances include features for detecting tub overfills or flood events. For example, some conventional dishwasher appliances include float sensors. To detect a flood event, the float sensor floats on top of the water in the tub, and if the float sensors floats upward to a certain height, the float sensor triggers a response indicating a flood event. One challenge with float sensors is that they are typically located proximate the sump area of the tub, and accordingly, such float sensors affect the water flow through the sump area during wash and drain cycles. This may decrease the efficiency and performance of the dishwasher appliance during normal operating conditions. Moreover, some conventional float sensors are located in the manual filter chamber where soiled water collects during a wash cycle. By locating the float sensor in the manual filter chamber, the volume of soiled water that can be collected is limited, which may negatively affect wash performance. Further, other conventional dishwasher appliances include pressure sensors that activate when the water level is excessively high. However, such pressure sensors can be prone to nuisance or inadvertent tripping and typically allow for little time for the dishwasher appliance to take corrective action to prevent a flood event.
In addition, in some instances, wash fluid may leak from the tub or another component of a dishwasher appliance. To prevent the wash fluid from spilling or pooling on a consumer's floor, some dishwasher appliances include drip or leak pans. Leak pans are configured to collect leaking wash fluid. Some dishwasher appliances include sensing devices for detecting wash fluid in their respective leak pans. However, feedback from such sensors is generally used passively to notify a consumer that moisture is present in the leak pan and is not used to actively control the dishwasher appliance. Thus, normal operation of such dishwasher appliances may continue while wash fluid overflows the leak pan, potentially damaging a consumer's floor.
Accordingly, dishwasher appliances that include flood prevention and/or leak detection features and methods therefore that address one or more of the challenges noted above would be useful.